White Quilties have gone postal!

If you were in this swap, watch your mailboxes for your shades of white quilties swap package. They all left town today! Fortunately, this was an easy swap to do. I figured everything out on paper first, and amazingly it all worked out to the letter without any switching around at the end. Phew! Whomever you receive a quiltie from has also received your quiltie! If you have any trouble with identification of a quiltie for questions or for thanks, just e-mail me & let me know as I have a list of who you received from.

Thanks for a great swap and challenging swap to boot, and for hostess gifts and extra white quilties . . . wow, you have given me a project to do now! Pictured here are all of the extra quilties I received - 15 of them, oh me oh my! Thank you SO much! They will become a wall hanging or a book! beautiful! I so appreciate this.

White Quilties! Linda Garcia

From Linda Garcia in New Mexico, we have our last set of White Quilties-wow! Altogether, we have 25 participants that came through and completed this swap. Two of the participants created TWO sets of 4 . What an amazing and fun challenge this was working with white as a color! Since so many of you enjoy creating quilties, I have 2 more quiltie swaps planned this year and that's not including the 'shades of spring' due July 19th. I will make a 'new swaps' announcement soon - in May!



Now, back to Linda's Quilties! Here you can see all of them, as Linda very kindly made an extra one for me. She used an interesting photo of white things printed onto fabric, and she also used tulle, white flower sequins and eyelet lace. On the back she also added an image, plus a velvet leave and a stick pin with a pearl head - see below!

These quilties are really nice, Linda! Thanks again for participating.

Over the next few days I will be swapping these out, packaging them up and mailing them out. I will let you know when the swap is complete!

White Quilties! Rena Matus

Rena Matus does not live too far from me, so with prior arrangement she was able to DROP OFF her quilties on Saturday! Steven & I were working in the yard so we even got to say hi -that was fun! Rena has taken class from me in the past, and her sister Dottie - also a student and swap participant, lives very nearby me. I am hoping they will both drop by for my Tag sale (with lots of art items) on May 9th & 10th!

Rena's shades of white quilties are so lovely -with beading around a stamped saying, "A Snowflake is Winter's Butterfly" and a beautiful butterfly she made herself out of Fantasy Film . I recently found out that Rena made the butterflies-wow! She put a package of fantasy film in her package for me to try too, thank you! I love the way Rena labeled her quilties and I am not sure how she did it . . . printed on a ribbon? Rubber stamped? (Yes! Rena told me she stamped onto the ribbon). It looks fantastic. Here, take a look -click on the photo for more detail:

I also love the way the butterfly wings catch the light. Thanks, Rena!

White Quilties! Fanny Fairbanks

From Fanny Fairbanks in Natick, Mass - WOW! We have 4 gorgeous stitched, eyeleted and buttoned Shades of White Quilties. These beautiful Quilties just came in yesterday, (TODAY is the due date) and when I emailed Fanny to let her know they were here, she emailed me back saying, "Talk about last minute, huh? I was seriously intimidated by the level of work of other swappers which petrified me to the point of procrastination! Looking forward to seeing which I get back!" ~I am quoting Fanny only to make a point . . . . because I do sometimes hear, often after the fact, that participants at times feel intimidated when they see me post the other participants swaps on line. You know I certainly don't post the work to intimidate you! I post it to share it, to inspire you, and to showcase your art. When people finally "dive in" and start working on their swap pieces after they have been procrastinating because they wonder if they are out of their league . . .well, I find they make the most beautiful and creative art! Case in point is right here. Fanny's Quilties are exceptional! Look at some more views - close up views by clicking on the photo.






Fanny also has her own website and even wrote a post about making these Quilties. Go to Fairbanks Fancy Goods to see additional photos & to read more!
Fanny sent me a most beautiful assortment of trims in her package, too. ThanK you! They will be put to good use. I also loved the way Fanny did the back of her quilties . . I took a photo but it did not come out : (
Fanny punched a hole in a little 1 x 2.5" moo card (sm calling card) with vintage photos & she sewed it/tied it to the back of each quiltie . . . great idea.

White Quilties! Joanie Hoffman

From North Beach, Maryland, Joanie Hoffman sends 5 Shades of White Quilties with an explanation! Her tag states, "White is the combination of all colors of the visible light spectrum. ~Wikipedia. So my SHADES OF WHITE Quilties had to have some color. I just couldn't make them any other way. I hope you enjoy yours! xoxo Joanie Hoffman"

: ) I think your Quilties are just great, Joanie! This is a "shades of white" swap and the theme is open for interpretation. I personally LOVE seeing everyone's take on the themes. It really is refreshing and keeps me thinking creatively.

Thank you for the extra quiltie, Joanie. I love the backs of your pieces. Wow, I think I am going to be able to make a wall hanging or a book with the extras that participants have generously sent! Now please do not worry if you did not send an extra. This IS always optional and I realize sometimes time is a commodity for you. I appreciate what comes my way and I certainly don't grovel if a package has only the required swap pieces --that is okay!!! Click on any of the photos for more detail on Joanie's excellent workmanship.

White Quilties! Cynthia May

From Claremont, California, Cynthia Vaca-May sends five simple and yet beautiful, shades of white Quilties -thank you! Cynthia used plain white fabric but spritzed with a soft shade that has a little sparkle and rubber stamped a butterfly and the saying "You have my heart" directly on the fabric. Cynthia left the edges raw and did some decorative stitching down the middle.

There is a close up below, click on any photo for more detail!

White Quilties! Fiona Brockie

From Aberdeen, Scotland, Fiona Brockie had sent wonderful quilties for our shades of white swap -wow! I love all the free-motion embroidery Fiona has done and all the different unusual embellishments; transparencies, paper images, trims & beads. I will let the photos do the talking!

Click on any photo for more detail.
Beautiful!

White Quilties! Dawn Sellers

All the way from Oregon, we have a set of beautiful Shades of white Quilties from Dawn Sellers! Dawn added a bit of beautiful iridescent fibers to her quilties -just lovely!! Thank you for participating Dawn, as I know you are very busy!

Here are some more views of Dawn's quilties, click on any of them for a larger photo.

White Quilties! Jolande van de Beld

Ahhhh, we have received . . . . TULIPS with our shades of white quilties, from Jolande van de Beld in The Netherlands! When I first announced the swap, Jolande wrote and said she had never joined a fabric swap or made quilties before, but she thought it sounded exciting & wanted to join! I gave her some info and off she went . . just look at these wonderful quilties Jolande made!

In her package to me Jolande included a note that said, "I have ironed tulips in the middle because those flowers are surrounding me this season. I live in a part of The Netherlands where you can enjoy fields of bulbflower this time of year. As I told you in my e-mail: it was so much fun to make them!"

Thank you Jolande, for participating in something new from a far, and for the extra Quiltie & fibers for me! Lenna

Click on any photo for more detail!

White Quilties! Sharon Schutt

Five beautiful shades of white quilties arrived the the other day from Sharon Schutt in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sharon created an extra quiltie for me as a gift and four for the swap. Thank you so much! Sharon hoped there was not too much color in her quilties.... I told her no! What's nice about these "shades of" themes is that it is truly up to your own interpretation. So have fun, do what you like and do what you think describes the theme. : ))

Note! *Saturday is the last day for arrivals in this swap. I have received 18 packages and I am expecting 11 more by the 26th -then I will swap these wonderful quilties out!



Click on any photo for more detail! Below is the BACK of Sharon's quilties, don't they look great??

White Quilties! Myfanwy Hart

All the way from Hampshire, UK, we have received 4 lovely shades of white Quilties from Myfanwy (pronounced MerVANwe). I did not figure out until today that Myfanwy has her own family business and website to boot! Both are called Sassa Lynne and she supplies textile artists with threads, yarn twists, viscose, scarf packs, silk pods and more! Myfanwy has also studied for a City and Guilds qualification in Embroidery. She included yarn twists in her quiltie packs for the recipients and for me. In lieu of postage she asked me if she could include a bunch of yarn twists and threads instead, which she did, to my delight!

What fun. Myfanwy Quilties are a bit diffent, which I like, and for her signature she hand wrote on the back of each Quiltie. Thank you!

White Quilties! Mary Zimany

We have even more Shades of White Quilties! This beautiful set is from Mary Zimany in Cornwall, CT. Mary is a student and also a friend of mine : ) Mary has created 5 beautifully textured quilties that make you want to touch them! I am enjoying how the "white" theme is encouraging you to branch out & try more texture in your work. I am so pleased Mary created an extra quiltie! Thanks, Mary.

I also love the ingenious way Mary has wrapped each quiltie up . . . she sewed together a simple wax paper bag to fit each quiltie! Click on any photo for more detail. Mary also labeled the back of her quiltie by printing her info onto a transparency sheet and sewing it on to the back of each quiltie --this looks really great!



Here's a close up of Mary's Quilties . . . .

White Quilties! Janice Perkin

Janice Perkin, from Fearnhead, Warrington, UK has sent in 4 lovely white quilties for our shades of white quiltie swap. It's so lovely to have you participating from across the pond, Janice! These quilties are all a little bit different from each other. Very nicely stitched, with lace, buttons & trims added too. Also, Janice so kindly added some beautiful silk scraps to her package as a hostess gift for me : ) which I can't wait to use!


I love how Janice added her info to each quiltie. She created a pocket from a bit of a crocheted piece, then snuck a tag inside the pocket; a great idea! Thanks so much, Janice.









Your quilties are wonderful!!

250 posts!

No packages to upload today, just a note. This post marks 250 posts for the creative swaps blog - so amazing! My first post here was written April 22nd, 2007, just about one year ago - read it here if you like. I want to thank you for coming along on this wonderful ride with me. It's lots of work sometimes, but oh so worth it, don't you think? I love seeing your inspiring creations on the blog here. Wonderful!

I have a poll up on the sidebar of the blog (http://creativeswaps.blogspot.com/) for you to vote on future swap ideas. The poll is running and will be up until April 15th, 2008, so be sure to check off the swaps you are interested in before then. There are two separate polls: The first poll has MY swap ideas and the second poll has the ideas that swap participants sent in to me. Vote in both polls to let me know what you might like to work on in the future. I will gather all the votes when the poll closes and that will help me to decide what we'll be doing August - December. Thanks for your feedback! (note: see the results here)

The 6x6 Quilties swaps are very popular & both are closed to join. The Shades of White Quilties are due in my hands by April 26th and I have received about half of all the entries so far - really beautiful! The Shades of Spring - Brown & Robin's Egg Blue Quiltie swap is also closed to join and due in my hands July 19th. I have a couple of people on a waiting list for that swap, so if your situation changes and you'd like to drop that swap, please let me know asap.

The open swaps as of 04/07/08 are:

Altered by Design's Angel, Fairy & Diva ATC swap due May 24th --

and the Alpha Stamps Grimm Fairy Tale 5x5 collage swap due June 28th. I hope you'll join us if you are not signed up already! Email me if you are interested in joining and you'd like to see if there is still room, and receive all the details. See you in the mail! Yours creatively, Lenna

White Quilties! Kate North

I have received 5 lovely, lovely white quilties from Kate North, across the pond in Surrey, UK. Thanks so much for making an extra one for me, Kate . . . your quilties are so textural and quite unusual! What a treat I get to keep one for myself!

Kate does a lot of traditional quilting -I know because she has been an on-line student of mine, but I consider these particular quilties very "arty" with all the texture and the feathers. I love them! Kate has even incorporated paper into her quilties. Look for the more off-white sections. . . click on any photo for more detail.

Kate blogged about making her white quilties on her own blog. Go here to Kate's blog if you'd like to read her post and check out her other fiber art.




Kate labeled her white quilties by writing on a piece of paper & sewing the paper to the back of her quilties - see below:

And here are ALL of the quilties with the photo taken at an angle so you can see all the texture. : ) definitely click on this one for the larger photo!

White Quilties! Patricia Schweitzer

Patricia Schweitzer from Mount Sterling, KY sent in 4 gorgeous White Quilties for our swap -oh my! She has used some of my favorite Tallulah's fabric images from Alpha Stamps -not a requirement, but certainly appreciated by me! Patricia used collage sheet images in fabric from the Paris Showgirls #2 sheet- which looks so lovely with the shades of white theme.

Here are some more views of what Patricia has created for our swap -

For a hostess gift, Patricia created a 'Love Pod' for me out of Sculpty and powdered pigments, see below. It's beautiful! Patricia wrote to me and told me, "Love Pods are intended to embody a sense of safety and comfort." Thank you, Patricia. Click on any photo for a close-up look.